


The Dance

by Meelah



Series: Krem Story Time [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Animal Abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-18 01:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5893408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meelah/pseuds/Meelah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things are very easy, and some things are very hard.</p><p>Prompt: Krem and a baby animal</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: animal cruelty, mostly implied but some described.

Krem might be a soldier but it doesn't mean he enjoys cruelty, and what he especially _hates_ is cruelty towards animals. He had seen the girl with the bear earlier on in the crowds having found it distasteful then: her playing her tambourine and the animal swaying to the music on it's hind legs, and he frowns now seeing the same girl again here in the tavern. The bear is too big to fit in, yet the girl is tapping her tambourine again and shaking a hat for coins while crowd laughs. 

Krem can't see what's happening from where he's sitting so he slowly gets up, making his way through the masses to see. The sight turns his stomach. There's a bear cub at the girl's feet, and she's pushing it around with her foot, trying to get it to move to the rhythm of her tambourine. The cub, small and fuzzy, is trying it's best to avoid the girl's foot which makes Krem think it has already learned a lesson or two about pain and what causes it.

Suddenly Krem's blood is boiling and he hasn't even noticed his hand going to his sword until Rocky's hand prevents him from drawing it. The dwarf shakes his head at him.

"Not the place," he says low.

Krem breathes out, trying to steady his hand that is shaking from rage.

“Come on boss,” Rocky says, nudging his arm. “Let’s go.”

Cool air should feel good after the heat of the tavern but Krem isn’t feeling any better. Rocky doesn’t say anything, just looks at him thoughtfully and Krem swears under his breath. He takes a deep breath closing his eyes, and when he opens them he sees the bear: it’s chained to the wall of the stables on the other side of the road, laying on the ground, just a black mass in the darkness.

“Boss…” Rocky says but Krem ignores him and goes to see the animal.

The bear seems to be asleep but doesn’t stir when Krem steps closer. Despite the nervous sounds Rocky’s making Krem kneels next to the creature, and when it still doesn’t move he touches the shaggy fur. Krem traces his fingers on the cold metal of the muzzle and even in the dim light he can see how it’s dug its way into the animal’s flesh, leaving it scabbed and at places even raw.

“Hey buddy,” Krem says quietly and then he takes a knife from his belt.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Rocky says.

“Right now it can’t even get up,” Krem says. “I don’t think it’s going to eat you any time soon.”

He uses his knife to cut the rope holding the muzzle and finally when he pulls it off the bear shudders.

“You’re alright, buddy…” Krem whispers and smooths the fur between the animal’s ears, but he’s feeling anything but alright. 

“Poor sod,” Rocky says quietly. “Maybe this one has danced its last dance.”

“And that’s why—“ Krem starts, thinking about the cub inside but then he has to grind his teeth together not to scream. “I’m going to—“

Rocky doesn’t say anything, just watches as Krem wraps an arm around the bear’s large head and brings his other hand, the one with the knife, under the bear’s neck. He’s whispering something to the animal who hardly even moves when the blade cuts its throat. Krem gets up to avoid getting blood on his boots but he’s still muttering something under his breath. 

“Now we wait,” he says as he wipes the blood from his knife, and the tone of his voice makes Rocky grimace.

They wait in the shadows and not before long the girl comes out, the cub is now in a leash following her. She crosses the road to her bear and gasps loudly when she steps into the pool of blood, and takes a step back only to bump against Krem.

“Hand over the cub,” Krem says, his face blank.

“W-what?” the girl stammers.

“Hand over the cub,” Krem repeats. “And think about a change of profession. Think really hard.”

“H-how _dare_ you,” the girl says but Krem yanks the leash from her hand.

“Really. Hard.” he says again, picking the struggling cub up.

Krem walks away and doesn’t look back.

***

“You what?” the Iron Bull says.

“I’m keeping it,” Krem says staring at him. “Her. I’m keeping her.”

“Looks like you’re not the only one picking up orphans, chief,” Skinner says helpfully.

Bull watches Krem for a moment but the boy has that stubborn look about him that he gets when he’s made up his mind.

“She’s your responsibility,” Bull nods finally.

“You don’t have to worry about her,” Krem says and his shoulders relax. 

***

The cub, who Krem names Amelie, is skittish and startles at every touch and sound — it takes him several days to get her used to his touch. Krem refuses to use a leash or a muzzle and the rest of the Chargers know better than to get in his way. Amelie’s emaciated and full of fleas, Krem has to fight her to get her to the bath, but once in the warm water she is quite happy. Dalish gives him one of her old combs which Krem uses to get Amelie’s coat smooth and mostly rid of parasites. Somewhere along the treatment the cub relaxes on his lap and when Krem goes to his tent Amelie follows.

The Chargers move out the next day and Krem puts Amelie in one of his open saddle bags where the cub has the freedom to peek out whenever she wants to. They ride through the town again but even when looking out for her, Krem doesn’t spot Amelie’s old owner. The cub soon falls asleep and stays that way most of the journey.

Once on a proper diet of mostly meat, Amelie starts growing. She quickly becomes a firm favourite in the camp, and her cute antics earn her food and cuddles, but end of the day she always comes back to sleep in Krem's tent. She overgrows the saddle bag within weeks and becomes quite adapt in balancing on the saddle in front of Krem until she’s too big for that too. For few more weeks she can ride on Bull’s large mare until she overgrows even that.mWhen Bull comes to talk to Krem that night, he's already defiantly pushing his chin out.

"She'll need just a little bit more time," Krem says, petting sleeping Amelie on his feet. "Little bit more time and she can keep up with the horses."

"Sure," Bull says and grins. 

"And I'll hunt extra, for her meat, it's not off our rations," Krem says.

"Sure," Bull says again and then he sits down next to Krem to pet Amelie.

They sit there in silence for a while.

"What's your plan?" Bull asks finally and then grins. "Do you want to teach her to fight? Because a fighting bear would be fucking awesome."

"No, Maker!" Krem breathes out. "She's had a tough enough start to life already, she doesn't need that shit."

"Let her go?" Bull asks gently. "Storm Coast maybe? Away from people."

"She's… she's not ready," Krem says between his teeth. "And… I don't know if she will be. If she's just too used to people now."

Bull doesn't say anything, just scratches Amelie's ear in a ways that makes her back paws twitch.

"I'll… figure it out," Krem says.

***

Amelie grows up to be one of the biggest bears Krem ever did see. She's almost as big as horse and can run faster than one, fur gleaming in the sun. Her size is offset by her amicable personality, but while she's still friendly towards everyone she's especially attached to Krem. Krem can see Bull sometimes watch Amelie and he can see the Chief evaluating the animal in a way he didn't when the bear was smaller, but he never says anything to Krem.

In the end, it only takes one accident to change everything. 

A new member of the Chargers gets drunk one night and stumbles over Krem's tent and Amelie attacks her — only swift action from Bull saves the poor woman from losing her life and she is carried away with deep gashes on her back. Krem doesn't think it's an accident that Bull was there, and pays the woman's severance pay from his own salary without a word. Attitudes against Amelie change then, and Bull doesn't have to tell Krem it's over.

Krem asks for two week's vacation, and while Bull offers to go with him Krem declines the offer. It's bad enough as it is having to let Amelie go, and only thing that could possibly make it worse would be someone seeing Krem cry into her fur, burying his face into her side as he says goodbye. 

He's found the most remote location at the Storm Coast he can — they haven't seen any people for days, but plenty of ram and even bear droppings. Krem lays on his back in the grass listening to the wind in the trees and watching the clouds that surely promise rain, and he can hear Amelie chase a butterfly somewhere close-by. Amelie and him have been hunting enough in the past few months that Krem knows she can feed herself so there shouldn't be any reason to worry.

"It's time, Amelie," Krem says quietly and the bear comes to nuzzle him. "You remember what we talked about?"

Amelie loses interest in the conversation and catches a scent of something interesting: another bear maybe, Krem hopes as she lifts her snout to the wind with nostrils flaring.

"Go on, girl," Krem says not getting up, because his chest feels so impossibly tight it just might implode. 

Amelie snorts, and then she's gone. Krem waits for several minutes before he gets up and packs his pack, saddling his horse. Bull welcomes him back with a firm squeeze on the shoulder, and soon starts tell him a story about the latest antics of the Chargers until Krem can't help but to grin. 

Life for the Chargers goes on, but whenever Krem hears bears in the distance he always stops to listen. It's impossible to say if any of them are Amelie, but the truth is that their camp is never bothered, not by bears or other wild animals.

And who are we to say what bears do when we're not looking, maybe it wasn't a goodbye after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I've had more time to work on this story because it really needed more. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.


End file.
